TIIK SCORPION LIZA /ID. 



81 



\VRSTKRN SKIVTL (Burner** teptmirionalit) is f>utii in 

 COAL SKINK inhabit* the Alleghanies, from Pennsylvania southward. 

 or SKINK, Moooa so called, also, is abundant in the Southern States. 



un<l Minn-sota. Tlie 

 The Oaorxi LIZAKI>, 



THE RED- HEAD ED SKINK (PletHodon trythrocfphaltu), aooording to Dr. Dekay, inhabit* 

 I', misylvania, and extends southward to Florida. It* length is twelve inches.' Two other 

 Skinks are recorded by Holbrook, the Fire-lined Skink, and the Striped Skink. Both are 

 exceedingly pretty creatures, inhabiting the Gulf States. 



PV--IN., l'\ one c,i I'.u. jvn,.n of i-M!isi,|..nl,|.. .-\t.'lir, -nrh a- Ilinuli:, :i!,.l \|.M,,:I, 



members of which are mostly found in Australia, though there are spw-i<- whirh inhabit 





China, Java, the Philippines and New Zealand, we come to a reptile very well known by the 

 popular title of the SCORPIO* LIZARD, and called more scientifically, as well as more correctly, 

 the BROAD-HEADED PLESTIODOX. 



In spite of the rather alarming name which the terrors of the ignorant have caused them 

 to bestow upon it, the Scorpion Lizard is one of the most harmless, as well as one of the most 

 useful little creatures that inhabit the earth. 



It is a native of Northern America, and is spread over a very large tract of country, 

 curious Lizard is one of the species that delights in trees, and of which we shall see more in a 

 future page. It generally resides in some tree buried in the depths of the forest, and remains 

 at a considerable elevation above the ground, never liking to make its home less than thirty or 

 forty feet above the earth, and often placing itself at a much greater height. 



The domicile in which this reptile most delights is the desertod home of a woodpecker, 

 which has brought up her little family, and forsaken the burrow which had taken such time 

 and trouble to hollow from the decaying wood. Here the Scorpion Lizard takes up its resi- 

 dence, and here it remains snugly concealed unless it is alarmed by an enemy at the gate < 

 wooden fortress, when it runs nimbly to the entrain-.-, and pokes out itored head wit 

 threatening a gesture, that its intending assailant, thinking it must possess a store of poison 

 to assume so resolute an aspect, retreats from the spot and leaves the reptile in quiet possession 

 of its abode. 



